BAPTISMAL TOMB, Brazil

Nestled deep within the ominous heart of the Mantiqueira mountain range, Fazenda Rio Verde stands as a silent sentinel, its history shrouded in over a century and a quarter of existence. Encompassed by an imposing 773 hectares of untouched wilderness, a dense virgin forest replete with cascading waterfalls and treacherous hiking paths, this farm emerges as a foreboding natural sanctuary. Within its dominion, the realm of coffee reigns, though it claims but a meager 40 percent of the total expanse.

The soil, a somber clay, rests upon a red mineral volcanic foundation, laden with decomposable remnants of the past. Along the slopes of these unforgiving mountains, the flora weaves a tapestry of life, gifting these soils an unparalleled bounty of nutrients and organic matter, a sinister boon to the cultivation of superior coffee.

From the shadows of relentless experimentation spanning four relentless years - varietals, processes, maturation, and drying methods - the Ipanema Premier Cru emerges, a creation born of relentless pursuit of perfection. It bows before only three regal rulers - Yellow Bourbon, Yellow Catuaí, and Red Acaiá varietals, their supremacy affirmed by their cup's excellence.

Within Fazenda Rio Verde, a mere 32 chosen terroirs, perched above elevation of 1,000 meters, are anointed for the Premier Cru. Each bears the unique mark of their solitary domain, etching their individuality upon the coffee they birth. A revolution in harvesting, processing, and drying, cloaked in the latest in arcane technology, has arrived, ensuring an eerie consistency across the harvests, not only for coffee but also for microlots, as they emerge like spectral apparitions.

Casting aside the mundane, the concept of flavour ascends to new, unsettling heights. With every harvest, a new collection of Premier Cru emerges, forged only from the most haunting flavor profiles culled from the harvest. They are cataloged into editions - Black, Gold, and Blue - a classification that binds them to the cup's complexity, forever branding them with a flavour that lingers in the abyss of memory.